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Friday, June 17, 2016

"Bumbling" Heise BOOTED Off Ballot In Plymouth Twp. Supervisor Race

By Brandon Hall(Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com)

State Rep. Kurt Heise, a controversial legislator who fervently backed Prop 1, as well as the expulsion of fellow legislators Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat, has been booted off the ballot in his race against Shannon Price for Plymouth Township Supervisor.

The ruling came down Friday afternoon by the Court Of Appeals, who held Heise didn't file his candidacy paperwork properly despite being a lawyer and State Representative.

The lawsuit was filed by former Plymouth Township Police Chief Carl Berry...

"Bumbling Kurt Heise failed to fill out his affidavit correctly. Attorney, state rep on elections committee can't follow the law ‪#‎fail‬"

It's described this way by local media:"A technicality could decide the race for Plymouth Township supervisor before voters go to the polls in August.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Wayne County Circuit Court, Carl Berry, a Republican activist, seeks to have Kurt Heise, who is challenging Supervisor Shannon Price in the Republican primary, tossed off the ballot for failing to fill out a box, on the affidavit of identity Heise filed for his candidacy, indicating his home precinct. The suit also asks that Don Schnettler, who is running for the Board of Trustees, be disqualified for also leaving the precinct box blank.

“Technically, it’s a violation of the law” to not fill in the box, Berry said Tuesday. “Do we want candidates violating the law to become candidates? I don’t think so.”

Berry, a former township police chief, is a supporter of Price and introduced him when Price formally announced last month that he was running for supervisor.

Berry said it “sounds harsh” to seek the candidates’ removal from the ballot, but that he’s “trying to get a problem resolved.”

“If the court comes up with a way to fix it, that’s up to the court and that’s fine with me,” he said."

_____________________________________________________________________Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.